Sir, – Those who wish to deny parents their natural right to educate their children in accordance with their own beliefs seem to be under the mistaken impression that words such as “pluralist”, “multicultural” and “multifaith” are imbued with some kind of talismanic power, whereby a liberal sprinkling of such language in any discussion of education magically wards off any unwelcome or inconvenient criticism. Not so.
A letter writer (February 7th) wishes to limit the type of education available to other people’s children so that it specifically excludes ideas and beliefs of which he disapproves. There is nothing remotely pluralistic about this outlook and attempting to pass it off as such is mere dissembling.
Our Constitution, what’s left of it, makes it perfectly clear that the State’s role in education is to facilitate the wishes of parents, not to mandate the unilateral imposition of whatever ideology happens to be in vogue today.
To reiterate, it is parents, and not letter writers to The Irish Times, who get to decide how their children are educated. - Yours, etc,
GAVIN LACY,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.